Off to Kruger Tomorrow

Good evening everyone (or perhaps afternoon for you all),

Tomorrow I will be off to Kruger, leaving from Joburg. It's about a six hour drive on a big bus with a bunch of people that I will be working with for the next several weeks. I'm getting very excited. Paul, Steph, Carys (all are field guides with OpWall), and I have been really enjoying ourselves these past couple of days. We just recently got back from Zebula, which is a fabulous 5 star lodge! Paul's aunt and uncle are partial owners of a beautiful place at Zebula, and we were so lucky to be able to stay there for a bit. We took the opportunity to go on several game drives (daytime, sunrise, and sunset), as well as some walks, where we were able to see quite a few spectacular animals and sights. We also got a chance to brush up on our animal and plant identification, study up, and relax. The coolest thing I did at Zebula was that I got a chance to PLAY with a little lion cub and a little tiger cub, both 12 months old (and you're right, tigers are not an African animal, they just had one at Zebula). The four of us went right into their pens with the handlers and we got to play with them... they were basically like big puppies!
Today we went to a beautiful Botanical Garden where we got to see a Black Eagle and its baby up on a tall tall cliff. That was quite cool as well! And don't worry, I got loads of pictures! I just won't really be able to post them for a while. And tonight at dinner, I was practicing eating British. Steph is British and Carys is Welsh and they have informed me that I don't eat properly with knife and fork. So I've been copying them (holding the fork upside down in the left hand, knife in the right, and using the knife to push food onto the back of the fork). It's quite difficult actually, but I'm getting the hang of it and they're trying my way too!
Anyway, I have to finish getting everything ready for tomorrow. This will be my last night in a real bed, in a place with walls for the next 4 weeks. Then I'll be living in the bush, with only a thin cloth tent and a flimsy electric fence to separate me from the wild. As nerve-wracking as that sounds, I am looking forward to it. I've grown fond of South Africa in the time I've been here, and the amazing wildlife that it is home to... so I can't wait to get a little bit closer with it.

Hopefully, I'll talk to you all soon. I'm hoping to get onto the internet about once a week during a break. Bafana Bafana!! (The FIFA World Cup opening concert is playing in the background, and everyone has been shouting Bafana Bafana all day... it's the name of the South African Soccer team here. Anyone following it??)

<3 Bianca